


Antony

by SunsetScomiche



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (mostly), Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), M/M, POV First Person, Science Bros Week 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 09:52:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15410337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunsetScomiche/pseuds/SunsetScomiche
Summary: Basically just an homage to Bruce Banner.





	Antony

**Author's Note:**

> _Insp. taken from:_ Prompts #12  & 28 found [here]() \+ a really... ahem, _interesting_ comic I read once in which Tony got called “Antony.” _Opening insp. by:_ [ x](https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DyKHeEOoMw64). Work beta'd by [Gavilan](https://gavilansblog.tumblr.com/).
> 
> This work is written for my favorite time of the fandom year, Science Bros Week! For fun, see if you can catch all of the SBW prompts that I managed to squeeze out of this little lemon. Enjoy!

I’m not exactly proud of how forward I was with him that day. I started off by cutting into Bruce’s sentence and filling it in with one of the only real scientific answers I even had during the whole– _alien_ debacle. “It’s a stabilizing agent,” I cracked wisely from halfway down the hall.

Of course, then, the rest was just theatrics. Keep ‘em distracted, keep yourself moving, keep their eyes on you and let them watch while you plant the knife in their backs without them even knowing.

Call it dark, edgy, whatever, I’d had a long day. We all had. We _were_ on edge. We were raw, angry, tired, scared. But Bruce knew what he was talking about, and God, did that fascinate me.

“He’d have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.”

“ _Unless_ Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

“ _Well_ , if he could do that, he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet.”

“Finally! Someone who speaks English.”

Crash-landing into the previous night’s research after a rough project with the energy initiative had made me even more susceptible to distractions than usual. So, while I’d been mumbling out fractions and theories over multiple mugs of coffee, I had also taken the liberty of doing some Googling. And really, to this day, all I know is that Bruce Banner is a genius.

_Seven_ PhD’s in areas -entire fields, actually- that I only glanced over in college while I climbed my way to the top of the corporate ladder. Furthermore, Bruce’s knowledge of the world, his… exposure, for lack of a better word, to culture and people and illness and disease makes him a brilliant doctor, biologist, chemist, and humanitarian all in one. And, he makes a mean chicken shawarma.

When the doctor shook my hand, I just gave him as much of what I had read as I could remember. I don’t know if I really nailed the whole first meeting thing, but the way he said, “This way, sir,” and guided me to the lab was pretty rad.

~

Thank God there was enough engineering involved in Loki’s little plan for me to grasp it. Otherwise, I’d have been absolutely screwed on getting Bruce’s attention at all. Problem is, now he thinks I really know science.

Here’s how I know: After the Battle of New York, as we’re calling it, Bruce and I had hauled our asses back to the tower. Seeing alien life forms face to face really makes you yearn for the simple comforts of home. That, and a damn good lab to analyze the experience in. So, Bruce had set up shop on my personal floor, with unrestricted access to my private lab, and I gotta say, it was nice having someone around to talk to… and occasionally prod with an electrified stick. And Bruce was a trooper. Not only did he take everything I dished at him, he served it right back tenfold, but folded up into tight little phrases in tones that made me want to scream and smile all at once.

No one else ever took the time to realize it, but Bruce is a smooth-talker. It’s no wonder he was able to get through a first meeting with Romanoff without making a total fool of himself. I didn’t even clear that hurdle. The thing about Bruce is that he’s quiet, so when he speaks, he makes you listen. He doesn’t say much, but what he does say _means_ something. He’s never saying just one thing. _Double entendre_ , they call it. It’s infuriating and I love it.

Take for instance the other night. I was coming through the living room and heading toward the stairs for the lab when Bruce and I crossed paths. Bruce seemed to be thinking, his fingers poised over his lips and a forefinger tapping against them as he stared at the floor and walked. I was balancing a plate of freshly-made grilled cheese in one hand. Too bad I didn’t have enough depth perception with my plate in the way, or maybe I wouldn’t have run into him.

My elbow smacked his shoulder and I gasped as my plate started to shake. Thankfully, Bruce corrected himself in time to catch the small plate as it wobbled atop my hand. He gracefully lowered our hands until the plate rested closer to my waistline. It was quiet, and he looked into my eyes and gave a sweet smile.

“You really should be more careful, Antony.”

Oh, dear god.

See, the thing is, in my quest to get Bruce to talk more about himself and his past, I half-accidentally told him about one of my many trips abroad. This one in particular had featured a lovely Brazilian woman with a _very_ thick accent and those ‘come hither’ eyes that I love so much. The part that I should have left out was that because of her accent, she always called me ‘Antony.’ And I’ll be honest, I kind of adored it. It took me away from my usual world and helped me to escape as someone else. She whispered it when we were in public, hummed it as she guided me home, and moaned it when I repaid her favors.

But Bruce just finds it hilarious. He takes it and runs. His eyes sparkle when he sees my reactions. When he says it to me, no matter where I am, I get the chills. And the sweats. And maybe even a slight hard-on. It had started as a joke, just him teasing me about my overly indulgent lifestyle. But then it became more than that. I don’t know when or how it became more, but I know that Bruce knows it did, too.

Bruce saw the dilation of my pupils, the way my lips parted but I had nothing to say.

His smile faded, and he walked away.

~  


I’d been digging through the data of an overly well-paid underground Neo-Nazi regime. And after my nightmare a la redheaded witch, I was too hell-bent on saving the world to care _who_ had started the AI project. My dumb ass was going to finish it, the right way. _Of course_ it had gone wrong.

But Bruce, god bless him, had been there, talking science to me and telling me exactly what to do, just like he always had.

“You have _got_ to upload that schematic in the next three minutes,” he said, eyes wide as he paced back and forth across the room and typed out codes that I only hoped could grant life.

I wanted to listen to him. I wanted to _obey_ him, even though I knew we were carrying the plan too far. Even when he accused me of creating a murderbot, no matter how much that hurt, I wanted to listen.

It came as no surprise to me that Bruce left after Sokovia. Didn’t even take the chance to say goodbye. There I was, ready to drop a city on top of myself to save the planet, and all Bruce could do was turn tail and run. 'Angry' doesn't even begin to cover how I felt about it. I probably could’ve even brought it up with the Hulk, and won, but planting a city safely onto the Earth’s surface is hard work, and I’d been exhausted.

~

Exhaustion and anger, it seemed, carried me through the next few months. Bruce, of course, was MIA for the meeting with Ross, so I sacrificed my pride and my loyalty to Bruce for my responsibility to the people. I chewed through my statements angrily and I swayed tiredly as I walked away. I could practically feel my blood pressure rising with each minute. Then my blood had absolutely boiled when Captain America had decided to betray his country and his team; when he had decided to betray me.

~

If it hadn’t been for SHIELD’s shoddy engineering and a well-timed phone call from Nick, I probably never would have gotten word of Bruce’s return. Well, that and Natasha’s desperate hunt for him. His stolen craft had short-circuited just inside the stratosphere, and The Hulk had taken the fall. Then, Bruce had surfaced in Azerbaijan, and he’d kept himself hidden there.

I guess I’m probably the only one who really knows how to reach him. I gave him a private Starkphone after he moved in to the tower. He told me that he would keep it for emergencies only. I told him that no one else would have the number anyway.

I know that I shouldn't call. It’s late. But, it doesn’t matter. None of that matters when I feel like this. I’m bone-tired, weary in a way that I haven’t been since Obie, since the cave. I can’t help it. I dial the number before my mind even grants me words to say.

“Hello?”

His voice is dark. It’s deep in a way that melts the tension out of the room for just a moment.

“Bruce, hi.”

“Tony?” he asks. “It’s three A.M.”

The rise of questioning in Bruce’s tone makes me flinch, but I choose to shrug it off. “Yeah. I know. I just-”

I blow a breath past my lips. My eyes darken as I try to imagine what I could possibly say.  

Then, Bruce’s voice becomes something new. It softens, mellows out, smoothes around the edges.

“Why are you calling me, Antony?” he asks, almost kindly. “What is it that you need?”

Heat spikes over my spine, warmth swims around in in the small of my back. Suddenly, I’m mesmerized.

“I-”

A pause. Bruce waits. He always waits for me.

“I just need you.”

_~Fin~_

**Author's Note:**

> Did you catch ‘em? Spoiler alert: I included _Genius, Raw, Heat,_ and _Late_. If you didn’t get ‘em all, don’t worry. There will be more from me soon. Happy Science Bros Week!


End file.
